Open Letter to Fox News

Last night during the debate Fox News and Sean Hannity displayed an extreme amount of discourtesy and disrespect to not only the Republican Presidential candidates but also the American people.

There was a very clear bias towards several individuals on stage. Sen. Brownback and Congressman Ron Paul received very little air time in comparison to the other candidates on stage. Rudy Giuliani was allowed much more talk time as well as additional talk time after the bell than any other candidate on stage. The moderator would ask all the candidates their opinion on issues, i.e., taxes or Gitmo and ignore only Ron Paul’s completely different opinion on those matters. Finally, when the moderator would get around to asking Dr. Paul a question it was a unique one-sided question engineered to make Dr. Paul foolish. Furthermore, when the moderator would ask a question of Dr. Paul it seemed as though Rudy Giuliani’s microphone was turned up so he could be heard snickering at the question. What type of Presidential candidate is that inconsiderate as to laugh at questions directed towards another candidate?

The attempted manipulation portrayed from the debates continued on throughout the ‘Hannity and Combs’ broadcast as well. First, when the results for the cell phone text messaging poll were announced live on the air, Hannity could be heard screaming out “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me, this is driving me crazy” then, he resorted to the claim that Ron Paul supporters were calling multiple times. What type of journalism is this? I don’t appreciate this host criticizing a very American belief that we are fighting an endless, pointless war and we need to come home. Apparently over 33% of the viewers from last night felt the same way. Why is this so hard to believe and/or understand? Furthermore, the phone system wouldn’t allow multiple votes from the same telephone number. Hannity’s claim of multiple callers was a lie and he should make a public apology for disrespecting 1/3 of last night’s viewers.

But the disrespect didn’t stop with that comment. ‘Hannity and Combs’ invited all of the candidates as guests after the debate. Each guest on stage was treated with respect and dignity. They were posed questions and allowed to answer questions. Dr. Paul however was chastised and confronted with a very confrontational host when he appeared on stage. Dr. Paul was not even allowed to answer 1 question without being hammered by Sean Hannity. Fox News actually had to cut away from Hannity to allow the interview to continue with a more reserved and more professional Combs, but that didn’t stop Sean Hannity from bursting in with “Oh I just have to ask this question…..” as he continues to argue with Dr. Paul. Fox News had no other option but to cut to commercial after only a very short time.

The attempt by this organization and individuals to sway the election in their favor is unethical and should be construed as nothing less than attempted voter manipulation. Fox News appears on tens of millions of homes across the nation and they should not be allowed to continue this very ‘unfair and unbalanced’ manipulation of the United States Presidential election.

Ron Paul won the poll last night by a land slide. And, when asked by the host of the guests in the New Hampshire restaurant how many patrons were disappointed with Giuliani’s performance, most if not all raised their hands. Where is any of this newsworthy information on the FoxNews.com website? It’s no where to be found. The current image is an edited picture to show McCain, Romney, Giuliani and Fred Thompson who wasn’t even a part of last nights debates. Why does Fox News feel as though they can dictate the next American president to the American people?

So based on the previous biased towards certain candidates, I now call on Fox News to end their blatant favoritism towards Rudy Giuliani. It is clear that the American people are not interested in an individual with poor family values, strange personal dressing habits, dead-beat dad attitude and poor leadership qualities in a leadership position at our Nations top Office. I also call on Fox News to live up to their claim of ‘Fair and Balanced’ and provide an equal amount of air time towards Dr. Paul and the other non main stream media candidates. It’s not up to Fox News to decide the Presidential candidates; it’s up to the American people. Finally, I call on Fox News to end their relationship with Sean Hannity. This individual is a horrible example of unbiased reporting and it is very obvious that he is unable to control his own emotional opinion when he sits before a guest with whom he may not agree. There is absolutely no excuse for a host of a show to disrespect an instant text poll, or disrespect a Presidential hopeful as was done during the New Hampshire debate.

Last night was a horrible demonstration of blatant attempted manipulation and I call on Fox News to end this sort of behavior immediately. I encourage all Fox News employees to vote in this upcoming election, but not use your widely broadcast news organization to try and sway uninformed Americans towards another candidate who will be just as unpopular as the current President. It’s not your election to choose, Fox News.“You Choose 2008” is directed towards the American people, not the Fox Network.

Giuliani laughs at questions directed at Dr. Paul. Laughter starts with 5:25 & 3:10 left and again with 1:23 remaining:

It is not possible to vote more than once

Hannity argues with Presidential hopeful

How the crowd really sounded when Ron Paul walked on stage. Not altered by the Fox control center

I support Ron Paul … but I did want to mention the system could be gamed with phone spoofing services. Even though I support RP, it is hard to believe he did so well with the general public. I hope Im wrong.

zefyr you couldn’t be any more wrong… They have setup a rather good system @ foxnews, due to the fact my friend works there at an IT. I’ve asked him this question last time they had a phone in vote and he said it is fool proof.

Though I hate fauxnews for all it stands for I was very pleased to know that this was an actual WIN for Dr. Ron Paul – I have great hope and honor for this man far more than any other presidential candidate – enough so that I registered to vote after 6 years, I bought a bumper stick for my window as well as for my motorcycle. This man has opened my eyes towards the true Republican ways.

Shame on anyone who thinks Rudi or anyone else won’t turn this once great country into utter shit… Ron Paul I believe in my heart will change us for the better as well as Protect us in the future. Shame on all of you including Fox News! They sicken me!

Since you think it so possible zefyr to game phone polls, how might those who watch Fox News do that?

Maybe the only people who actually care, or are watching Fox News are indeed Ron Paul Supporters? Maybe that means those who actually may vote who have a true want for change and not just what name sounds most familiar at the voting booth will vote him into office so long as the majority are those who actually have taken the time to educate themselves and not just “do your duty” to your party or what name sounds like the most trustworthy. I am hoping those ignorant days are gone since the advent of the internet. If not this term, next term for sure.

I admire Ron Paul for his honesty and the purity and consistency of his arguments. He won that debate hands down. However, his extreme libertarian ideas regarding the disbanding of the CIA, FBI and the Dept. of Education won’t sit well with most voters (including me).

Well, as a first hand observer, there was far more energy there for Ron than any other, prior to and after the debate. I saw a plane flying a Ron Paul banner, enthusiastic young people, and a neocon crowd split into three by the so called frontrunners. FOX actually announced they did a drawing for podium positions, the odds of the CFR guys winning all the center podiums are about the same odds as Neocons winning the next election, 1,000,000 to 1. At that point I knew what was to come.

I just love how people are more worried about the fact that RP doesn’t like the Fed, the CIA, or the FBI than the fact that our ostensibly human-rights-based government has decided that it can torture people, can pre-emptively nuke other countries (“the option’s still on the table”), and the President, through the un-Constitutional Unitary Executive theory, can completely ignore any laws that Congress passes as long as he says it’s to fight terror. No one can question his judgment on the matter, either, that’s how much power he’s grabbed.

Not that Congress is worth a damn anyway, having racked up $10 trillion in debt (only 1/10 of which is for Iraq). How did they do that? Why, Bush never vetoes anything unless it’s got stem cells on it! He scratches their backs, they let his felonies slide.

What the neocons are pulling is WAY scarier than anything moderate democrats, greens, or libertarians are offering.

It’s true that the phone poll did not reflect the percentage of Americans who, if the election were held today, would vote for Mr. Paul (though I believe the so-called “scientific polls” greatly underestimate that percentage.) What it did unequivocally show is the pathetic dearth of enthusiastic supporters for his so-called “top-tier” opponents. His support is solid, while Rudy McRomney’s is weak and subject to major erosion over the next five months as more and more of their “supporters” learn about and decide to be a part of the Ron Paul Revolution.

I am a democrat and an Obama supporter. I would love nothing more to have an Obama V. Paul election in 08. This will never happen though. The neocons that run our courty will now allow this to be so. Bush’s first cousin runs Fox, and they are terrified of him. They hope one of the other mundane canidates will break away in the polls and that Hilary will get the nod from the Democrats. Obama V. Paul is there worst nightname.

Fair and balanced? Hahaha. Yeah, right. The media don’t challenge the government as was the design by our fore fathers. Look at it this way: The lobbyists choose the president now a days, and they also spend money advertising, therefore the news is propaganda. That’s just the way things are in this Fascist society pretending to be a Democracy. Where are “we the people?”

I would like to point out that the question asked in the text messaging poll was, “Who won tonight’s debate?” as opposed to, “Which candidate would you vote for?” It is both logical and likely that some supporters of Romney, McCain, Giuliani, and the others felt that their respective candidates did not perform well in the debate, and thus voted for Paul.

Regardless of any Fox News bias, question bias, or flaws in the voting system, it’s fairly likely that Paul would not receive 33% of the votes if the primary was held today, even though many viewers felt he did well in the debate.

One thing you may have left out was how did Huckabee jump two second place. I remember the order to be Paul, Guliani, McCain. Then FOX tried to measure the crowd response between Paul and Huckabee head to head. There line graph was not explained but it gave the false impression that Huckabee had won the crowd. The end result was that Huckabee took first place and now CNN wants to have a mini debate with Paul and Huckabee? Something is strange about this.

I watched the debate and I was in utter awe at just HOW incredibly biased the moderators and the pundits were being toward certain candidates and how unfair they were being to others. Dr. Paul did not even get an opportunity to respond until about a half hour into the debate and the laughing and snickering was really pissing me off. The tone of which the moderators delivered their questions to the good doctor was mocking and clearly intended to make a fool of him.

And as far as Hannity and Colmes go, Fox really needs to make this up by issuing a public statement retracting their comments about the voting system and declare Ron Paul as the winner at 33% without any knowledge of tampering or manipulation of the polling system.

Here are the boots on the ground support numbers from meetup.com,
Ron Paul………………….42,000 members
Rudy Guiliani………………..55 members hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahaahaha

your real enemies are the neocons…they are the ones controling the mainstream media…what do you expect ???! …these ppl are against liberty…against traditional american values…against the constitution…they have an agenda…they have a goal..and that goal is against the interest of the majority of the americans … but is in the interest of a very small number of ppl….its that simple ..

anyone voting for guliani or romney needs to have their head examined. todays republican party bears little resemblance to its past. this party has been hijacked by neoconservatives who got into office claiming to have morals and a belief in god when in reality, they have neither. people need to wake the fuck up and learn whats really going on in this republican party and hint hint… youre not gonna get this education by watching faux news.

Even in the post-debate, all Sean Hannity could do was keep spouting from the same fact sheet. It went a little something like:

Hannity: Shit! Iranians are attacking us! Hezbollah! 100 million dollars! IEDs!!!!!
Paul: That’s because we invaded them, dipshit. If we withdraw, maybe they’ll leave us alone.
Hannity: Didn’t you listen to me?? They’re killing our American soldiers. AMERICAN LIVES ARE AT STAKE!!! Look at Hezbollah! 100 million dollars! AND, they’re using IEDs against us! IEDs I TELL YOU!!!!!
Paul: You just said th-
Hannity: OKAY that’s all the time we have today, kthx cya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.

I agree completely with RansomHoliday in that I would LOVE to see an Obama vs. Paul election, and I’ll fight for Obama as much as the next guy, but is it really going to happen? I don’t think so. I don’t think “they” are going to let anyone but Hillary take the Democratic nomination, despite Obama’s popularity; same for Paul and the Republican nomination (if you’re confused, by “they” I’m referring to the [bipartisan] inner circle of amoral corrupt scumbags who have hijacked the leadership of this great country).

U.S. and even world politics has become so corrupt that even by agreeing to play by the rules, you’ve already lost. I walked into the living room the other day to find my dad watching Fox News… it was at that point that I realized that Obama has no hope. Ron Paul has no hope. America has no hope.

I hope someday, history will realize that in the year 2000, the American people were duped. On September 11, 2001, the American people were duped. In 2004, the American people were duped. What has it cost us? American lives who were supposed to have died for a good cause, but instead died so that a few men could get rich(er). Hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money funneled directly into private defense firms. Our freedom.

Hannity: Shit! Iranians are attacking us! Hezbollah! 100 million dollars! IEDs!!!!!
Paul: What about the Sauds. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Sauds. Bin Laden is a saud. The Wahabis are preaching the destruction of America. They’re funneling money to insurgents.
Hannity: That doesn’t matter. It’s not what I’m talking about.

[ “Paul: That’s because we invaded them, dipshit. If we withdraw, maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

Yeah, right,asshole. Last time I checked we were attacked first. Be glad I’m not in the Oval Office. 98% of the Middle East would be a fucking asphalt parking lot. ]

On 9/11?

We weren’t attacked by Iranians on 9/11. Nor Iraqis. So what are you talking about? We were attacked by Saudis. But the government isn’t attacking them. In fact, they’re giving them billions of dollars in guns.

Does that make sense to you?

We were attacked on 9/11, yes. But it makes no sense to then go attacking countries who had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ATTACK. Pick up a globe sometime.

I honor your intentions, this is a great statement for democracy.
However, since you’re criticising the mannor of broadcasting, you should leave out your own political oppinion to be unbiased.
and: media is always inherently biased. Only comparing different ones gives a clue of the truth. That should be part of your message, as well.

there comes a man telling you the truth…and what ppl do !!?…they laugh at him…they mock him…they ignore him…then they fight him when ppl start listening to him…
ron paul knows what he is talking about…and he knows that the RATS and MONEY CHANGERS will fight against him…to stop him from exposing them…to stop him from getting in there way of making money from dirty wars and from the blood of the young men of these great nation wasted for the sake of the greedy few…to stop him from getting in the way of there plans of one world super government super tyranny with absolute power.
and as for those who worship money ..fame ..position…power and puts his or her hand in hand with the devil …I say to them: GOD is watching ..you
will get justice delivered to you sooner or later…

check again. nevermind that 16 of the 19 hijackers were saudis, as has already been mentioned. american military involvement in the middle east did not start on september 12. for 10 years, during clinton’s administration, we repeatedly bombed iraq, and the economic sanctions that clinton imposed on iraq effectively wiped out half a million iraqi children.

“Be glad I’m not in the Oval Office. 98% of the Middle East would be a fucking asphalt parking lot.”

you’d have been assassinated by a cabal of powerful private businessmen, who have a vested interest in the natural resources in that region of the world, before your finger ever could ever touch the button. why do you think you’re an iraq war veteran? we would’ve nuked them already, sans ground troops, if ours was a scorched earth policy. you moron.

“I’m an Iraq war veteran,”

waaaaa! here’s your cookie.

“I’m reminded that I was sworn to protect even the lefttards among us.”

wow. someone as mindlessly belligerent and as clueless about human nature as you, protecting me?

Don Pope The Dr Knows what he’s doing and saying when he says he wants a piece of the CIA and FBI. You need to look up Micheal Ruppert.
Just search Micheal Ruppert history of the CIA…Very clandestine..and illegal. Your going to have a different outlook believe me. We live in a very wicked place.

oh i know, all the dems were sitting at home with their multiple cell phones and spoofing software so they could enter multiple votes in a silly little useless fox poll, shows how screwed up fox noise is, they cant even support their own unless they are uber right, hannity and bill,o need to be slapped down. i really cant believe anyone takes them serious

I’ve registered democrat for this election, so it won’t surprise anyone that I’m a bit pleased to see Fox talking smack about Ron Paul. It doesn’t matter who wins the Republican primary: as long as it’s not Ron, we’ll have a democrat win next November. Which, after the mess Bush has made, is as it should be.

The election next fall can only be won by Hillary, the forgone Dem nominee, or Ron Paul, the only Repub that can possibly beat her in a general election. Any one else winning the Republican nomination is going down this time around.

My two cents: anyone but Obama winning will screw over America just as bad (especially Hillary). Maybe Ron Paul is somewhat of an exception, but if corporate media like Fox News don’t favour him, then most American conservatives won’t either.

I’m an Englishman living in South Africa, and haven’t taken a lot of interest in the US election race – though I’ve been hearing a low call of ‘Ron Paul! Ron Paul!’ over the internet for some time. After watching the clips I seriously disagree with some of what he says in his domestic policy (like I care), but foreign policy is what needs to change. Amercia has never been loved by marignal groups like Al Qaeda, but today it approaches near universal hatred through much of the world due to the idiotic policies of Bush Inc (& Blair plc). I guess if I was a yank, I’d probably be a Democrat – but the only thing that can save America from massive terrorist attacks in the future is a shift in foreign policy in exactly the direction Paul wants to take it. My guess is he won’t win and US America will fall.
Send hampers not hand-grenades, build roads not military bases – and the world will see you as great again.

I find it mind numbing that so many people take exception to the Fox News programming. The only thing I see about this media that most of these clowns and fools are bitching about is that Fox doesn’t toe the liberal media line. You don’t like Hannity?, well you tell me of ANY so-called ”main-stream media” program that allows an ideologically challenged co-host like Alan Colmes to espouse, challenge and predetermiine a guests responses. I think that even having Colmes on a nationally viewed news analysis program is a total wasate of air time. I’m amazed that Sean hasn’t reached below the table and whacked this goof ball with a well directed sheleighlee. There is NOT one of the so-called mainstream media outlets that even breathes a draught of fairness in content of their broadcasts. NBC, MSNBC and even CNN have all disgraced themselves, and the others, ABC, CBS are only nominally fairer in their news UNreporting. I was watching an election covering program during the first Clinton campaign against George H.W.Bush and one of the anchors said the following as the ”Anchors” were gleefully awarding the East Coast and Midwest states to Clinton, even BEFORE the polls closed. One IDIOT said, ”We can’t celebrate just yet, OUR MAN ISN’T IN YET” He hasn’t been seen since, as far as I know.

I think FOX has been very unbiased in reporting coverage of the elections of 2008. Ron Paul deems no respect for continuing to attempt to run a campaign when his party has clearly named thier Representive. Get a Life Ron Paul, join opperation Smile & help someone please.

[…] to suffer the same kind of marginalization from candidates despite his credentials and credibility. He’s attacked by the host, Hannity, Giuliani disrespectfully laughs when Paul speaks factual a…. Despite all of this the American people still seem to notice Paul’s genuine and very […]